MP conducts band
Sunday 13th Jun 2004, the wee hours
MP for Eddisbury ‘Bowls’ us over! The City of Chester Band became the region’s ‘music on the move’ on Friday when engaged to provide entertainment at the official opening of the Waverton Bowling Club’s new facilities. In addition, control of the band was temporarily handed over to the Shadow Secretary of State for Industry, Mr Stephen O’Brien MP, who had earlier cut the ceremonial ribbon to the Bowling Club’s new conservatory. Mother Nature put the Band’s adaptability to the test on this particular evening; we started our contribution outdoors, but were forced by the weather to move to a small marquee after the first item, only to find that our audience had retreated indoors and were unable to hear us. Never a band to allow an audience to get off that easily, we followed the crowd into the Bowling Club, to discover that the only place we could set up was in the snooker room! Forced to adopt an unorthodox ‘T’ formation, the Band nevertheless provided an entertaining programme which, by necessity, included an arrangement of ‘Singin’ In the Rain’. When the time came for the official opening ceremony, the rain had abated, so the Band resumed its original playing position outside and provided an appropriate fanfare to herald the cutting of the ribbon. It was at this point that a member of Her Majesty’s Opposition revealed his past as an orchestral conductor and relieved Derek Mitchell of the baton in order to conduct a replay of the fanfare. The Band’s thanks must go to the Waverton Bowling Club for their generous hospitality and, in particular to Geoff Lee, a former Secretary of the Chester Band, who ensured that we were well looked after and that events ran smoothly, despite the weather. It’s been a busy weekend for the Band, with the Training Band at Mickle Trafford on Saturday, and the grown-ups at the Roodee on Sunday. Next weekend sees the main band out again, at Ruskin High School on Friday the 18th, and Plemstall (for the annual Well Dressing) on Sunday the 20th. See the Band’s award-winning web site, www.chesterbrass.co.uk, for further details. Brian Mottershead keep an eye on our pictures area for photo's of the MP in action